A Reunion to Remember
by Coka Cookie Cola
Summary: Ten years ago, she confessed her love to him and he turned her down. Harshly. Now, ten years later, at their high school reunion, Bulma Briefs is fully prepared to face the bastard who broke her heart. Or is she?
1. Prologue: Ten Years Ago

**I know I should be finishing off my other stories before starting new ones, but I do what I want.**

**A Reunion to Remember**

**Prologue: 10 Years Before**

June 1st 2004. Today was the day and it was very much her day. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, Bulma Briefs mused, her confession could go wrong and she could make herself look like a big, fat idiot. Either that, or she could die in a hole where she would never be able to feel loved by anyone ever again. Meaningless jokes aside, she didn't want to look like a love-struck fool, despite the rare cerulean colour of her hair. Bulma wanted to look pretty, intelligent and calm for her fourteen years of age. She wanted to look desirable in the eyes of the other boys. But there was one specific boy she wanted: Vegeta.

Looking straight in the bathroom mirror, Bulma tried to smile with confidence. She could totally do this; confessing her love to the most popular boy in school.

Sure, Vegeta was known generally as a cold hearted asshole. His appearance may scare some people, often meaning that they were smart enough not to anger him in any way: he did have a bad temper, after all. But he was also single. It meant that she could have a chance to win his heart. Who knows? Maybe she's the girl to heal and change him. Wouldn't that be a good accomplishment?

Splashing some extra water on her face, Bulma allowed herself one more minute of pep talk before heading out into the hallway. She was Bulma Briefs – the only heiress to one of Japans' most prominent, successful, businessmen. If that didn't give her the confidence she needed to face the music, it would have to be her looks and her smarts. As shallow as that sounded, maybe Bulma was a little conceited, but there was nothing that she could do about it. She was born that way, she figured.

So why would any boy reject her, right?

As she walked down the hallway, Bulma could hear voices coming all around her. Truthfully, she knew some girls didn't like her, and they wouldn't hesitate to call her a slut or some know it all bimbo. Yes, those comments hurt, probably a lot more than what she'd admit. She did learn the hard way that she couldn't get everyone in the world to like her. So really, Bulma held her head up high and did her best to ignore the mean comments and put downs. She was above all that; even a wealthy heiress had to wear a school uniform like everyone else.

Then, in the moment of truth, she saw him.

Bulma could feel her heartbeat flutter and a wave of emotions crashed over her. She could never get over the fact that Vegeta was more admirable than any other boy in the school. Bronze skin, well-toned appropriately muscled body (from what she saw in gym class, he could rock the shorts), onyx hair - similar to a porcupine - and eyes that could burn into anyone's heart. Sure enough, Vegeta was a bad boy and Bulma just loved them. What wasn't there to love?

There were rumours that Vegeta was part of a gang. In the past few months, convenience stores have been robbed of their money and liquor stores were also vandalized. The police never really got on top of things, so Vegeta's alleged associates were lucky in that regard. But as far as trouble went, no one had been killed; but in all honesty, Bulma couldn't get rid of her feelings for Vegeta.

"Hey, Vegeta!" Bulma called out to him with an exuberant smile worming its way onto her lips.

Said teenage boy who was walking toward his friends, turned around with a look of pure disgust on his face. Her smile never faltered, however, and she was finally able to catch up to him. This would be her only chance after all, before summer came… "Can I talk to you for a second?" Bulma was never the shy and awkward type around boys. In actual fact, she could count situations where she had intimidated some of the male population with her confidence. She never once thought it would be a bad thing.

"What do you want?"

Bulma blinked at his harsh tone and chose to ignore it. "I don't want anything in particular… I just.."

She could remember any other instance when some girl chose to confess her feelings for Vegeta. And she knew that Vegeta didn't exactly have a kind heart when turning them down. One time, someone even had to stay home for two whole days, crying their little hearts out that Vegeta won't ever love someone like them. In short, girls could develop emotional trauma, but it's more or less their fault they had to fall for him. Bulma included. But she had something that no one else had: a back bone. If she got rejected, she could accept it and attempt to move on. Unlike sobbing, that most other girls do. Her confession could go either way and deep down, she honestly hoped that he would like her the same way she liked him.

"Truth is, Vegeta, I really like you," Bulma admitted, tucking stray hairs behind her ear, while a small blush appeared on her cheeks. "I was hoping that we could go out sometime. If you wanted to."

No matter how many times she practiced in the mirror or analyzed the possibilities of his reaction, it never got any easier for her. Sure, Bulma had the confidence, but deep down in her heart, she was a wreck; she never had a love life and Vegeta just happened to be her first crush.

"Truth is, I'd never be interested in going out with someone like you." She could have sworn she heard a piece of her heart break.

"You're ugly, you think you know everything, you're annoying and a kiss ass. I don't like kiss asses."

She… she didn't know what to feel right now, much less think on how to follow that. She wasn't good enough for him? She was annoying? Bulma never really bothered people before, much less sucking up to anyone. Tears burned in her eyelids, as she finally processed her emotions. She was ugly? She was a know it all? Bulma, if anything, took pride in her looks and she had brains. And to have Vegeta shove it back in her face? That hurt. It really, truly hurt her.

When Bulma heard his friends laughing, that was when she realized how humiliated and disappointing she felt. She honestly believed she was different from any other girl. But it was ironic – now she was going through that same emotional trauma; apparently, there had been no hope for her to begin with.

How did Bulma fall for a guy like him? How could she overlook his attitude and brush it away like it was dirt? Maybe she never really knew him at all.


	2. Chapter 1: The Invitation

**Thank you guys for being so patient with me; I appreciate it! ;)**

**A Reunion to Remember**

**Chapter 1: The Invitation**

"Oh my fucking god! Of course you'd run out of arrows, dumbass!" A pair of amused onyx eyes glazed over to the woman sitting next to him, her cerulean eyes glowing with annoyance. He almost flinched when she tossed some popcorn against the television screen (almost being the operative word: he was used to his girlfriend's violent antics now), so he was left to smile hopelessly at her antics.

"What's so funny?" Bulma Briefs turned abruptly to face her oh so supportive boyfriend Yamcha, who stared at her kind of like a lovesick idiot. But, he was her love-struck idiot.

"Every time we watch this movie, you just get incredibly violent," Yamcha smirked amusedly, but not in a mocking or taunting gesture. He valued his life, as a matter of fact.

It was true; his loving girlfriend of nine years had a tendency to act violent, but some people would say her anger was caused by the most trivial matters. In some cases she was a bit of a spaz, but it was due to her stubborn, somewhat self-obsessed nature. She kind of reminded him of Tony Stark in that way, but she was more or less the Hulk in her attitude department.

"It's The Avengers. What do you expect?" Bulma rolled her azure eyes, before tying her long mane of hair into a high ponytail. She was only wearing a pink tank top and plaid short-shorts, yet she was feeling incredibly sweaty and disgusting: why Yamcha had to tolerate her sweaty skin, of which her legs were resting on his lap, was beyond her. Come to think of it, it made her wonder why he wasn't sweating his bucket off too.

Yamcha raised an eyebrow. "So that gives you the right to trash talk Hawkeye?"

Bulma glared at her boyfriend. "Come on. He's only given so many arrows and how could they do so much damage?"

He chuckled, rubbing her legs softly. "You take this movie way too seriously."

Bulma Briefs supposed that was true. Just like about everything else in life, she took date nights just about as serious as her paying off the bills for her apartment every month. She was almost twenty-five now, and so it wasn't like she could afford to act like a kid forever. After all, Bulma was forced to re-evaluate herself ten years ago now… Not that she was still hung up about that. She moved on; she became a strong independent woman with a good, reliable boyfriend. And, if she was lucky, he might even propose to her. Bulma was kind of hoping that he would.

Life was considered to be pretty swell for her right now.

"But you love me for it," Bulma grinned sweetly, battering her long eyelashes innocently.

She considered herself to be pretty loveable, really. Gorgeous smile, porcelain skin, long, ocean-blue hair, captivating light blue eyes, and it helped she had the right size of boobs plus a behind that most women would kill to get. Seemed to her that her long hours at the gym every week paid off. Bulma wasn't that conceited to assume that every girl in the world would like her, but she was smart enough to realize that there were heads turned to face her whenever she made a public appearance. In all honesty here, Bulma had a couple of select girlfriends which she knew from childhood. Like Launch, the beautiful but aggressive tomboy with serious anger management issues, Chi-Chi, the sophisticated yet family-oriented, career-focused best friend and 18 – who was mysteriously adored from most people around her (if not intimidated by her cool attitude) – whose real name could not be identified/explained at that time. These friends were good enough for her; they all appealed to Bulma's personality, regardless of her being from a wealthy family. They had been there for her when no one else was. Especially back in high school, and Bulma returned that concept of friendship to the rest of her friends as well.

Yamcha, she didn't meet until the end of grade nine: basically, one day she was feeling sorry for herself – after her little confession fiasco – and he walked up to her, tried to make her feel better, the old cliché story. Needless to say, they were in love at first sight. Who the hell cared about Bulma's previous love? Or even Yamcha's? He helped cheer her up considerably.

"Maybe, maybe not."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "You're such a jackass."

"I'm the jackass that's taking you to the reunion, remember?"

That's right, Bulma mused to herself, her high school reunion was coming up quickly. It wasn't a surprise to her when she got an invitation in the mail a couple of months ago. It really wasn't. At first, Bulma did not want to go, for obvious reasons. But due to Yamcha's loving influence (in other words, he inflated her ego; he didn't seduce her, people.) she changed her mind. She certainly wasn't afraid to face Vegeta again after so many years of trying to repress his existence. She would show the world how tough she was and how she wouldn't need anyone else expect herself to make herself happy.

"I still don't know why they chose to have a junior high reunion. Sounds kind of stupid to me." What never sounded stupid to Bulma? The fact that there was a high chance Vegeta being there was stupid. The fact that she'd have to associate herself with her old classmates was pretty stupid.

Horror movies were stupid, mint ice cream was just as dumb and Tom Cruise's face took the cake in terms of idiocy. She could tolerate those things compared to leisurely attending the reunion.

There were so many things that were worth more her time than that.

"You kind of sound like a hipster to me," Yamcha teased, poking her leg in a playful manner. Bulma didn't even bother sitting up to retaliate.

"I'm not a hipster. I just don't like reunions."

"Too mainstream?"

"That's not the point. You know who's going to be there."

Yamcha paused the movie to look back at his girlfriend. "Don't tell me you're scared of him."

Scared? There was no way in hell that Bulma would ever admit that aloud. Why would she have to be terrified of a shrimp with anger management issues? She could take him in a fight any day now. At least, that was what she kept telling herself. She might have been scared ten years ago, sure, but Bulma had been working on her self-esteem since then. If anything, Bulma was not going to allow herself to take any of his crap anymore. Vegeta could just go to hell for all she cared. She wouldn't be surprised if he was there already. Not that she would care – what he did with his life was his business.

Why was she even critically thinking about this?

"Scared is overrated. I'm actually excited."

"I am honestly scared when you smile like that…"

"You shouldn't be. It's not like I'm going to seek out my revenge or anything like that."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

Bulma was not really a vengeful person. If anyone dared to start crap on her in some shape or form, she'd hold her head up high and ignore it. It was called tolerance. But if she got the chance to get her revenge on Vegeta, she might take it. No doubt that it would be satisfying.

"Well, I suppose if he tried something on me, he'll regret the day he ever rejected me."

Yamcha shook his head, partly wondering why Bulma was even still sore over that. It made him wonder if she truly got over him. But it wasn't like he had anything to worry about; Bulma had convinced him time and time again that she had eyes for him only.

"That is why I'm worried for you, Bulma. You tend to escalate on things like that."

Bulma shook her head. "I do not overreact." She didn't know why people were telling her that all the time, but no matter. The point was, she was ready for this reunion. The good part of it was that it's taking place in the summer and definitely not the winter. She honestly didn't think she could handle the cold if that were to happen.

But hey, at least she knew that her friends were coming along too, so she was more or less happy to finally see how they had been doing. She hadn't really talked to them in the past couple of months, considering that they were busy and it was perfectly understandable.

Even so, she should be glad that this was the only reunion she would ever go to. What's the worst thing that could possibly happen?


	3. Chapter 2: Procrastinating At Its Best

**Not too much going on in this chapter either. Sorry! Don't worry though; the interaction between Bulma and Vegeta will be coming up soon! At some point. LOL!**

**A Reunion to Remember**

**Chapter 2: Procrastinating At Its Best**

In retrospect, she probably shouldn't have had three bottles of Coke throughout the entire course of the day. Then again, Bulma had not made well-informed, wise decisions as of late. This one was probably the least worrisome compared to the other ones. First, she made the mistake of drinking three coke within three hours. Second, Bulma had to satisfy her hunger pains with ravioli – her favourite food – but did not bother to check the expiration date of said ravioli: thus, she had spent two hours puking the wretched vile out of her system. Lesson she took away from that? She knew she shouldn't even bother attempting to cook ever again. Third mistake? She watched the shittiest Nicolas Cage movie ever made – Season of the Witches. Enough said: she was bore. And this was all just from today.

It was almost July – and her high school reunion was on the fourth of, coincidentally enough – and yet Bulma did not feel like she was prepared. What to wear on the first day? Check. Easy enough. Mentally analyzing any possible situation where she'd see… him again? It was a work in progress. Did she have the self-confidence she needed to get through it? That was also a work in progress. It was pathetic to think she would wait until the last minute to give herself pep talks. That was how life worked for her. What good were pep talks to her now? If anything, they just reminded her of her past experiences – which almost always made her cringe nowadays.

Bulma sighed. Apparently she had nothing better to do today other than sitting around on her petite ass just watching the stars. She loved doing this sort of activity in the summer, but sometimes it did nothing to help calm the nerves in her stomach. She felt the cool breeze of the wind penetrate her skin, causing her to shiver. Bulma wrapped her dark blue sweater around her small frame, not taking her eyes off the ebony canvas hanging in the sky, glowing with bright stars. It was sort of pathetic since she had no one to watch the stars with.

And for some unfathomable, prosaic reason, she pictured him in her mind. And just like that, she saw those ebony eyes scrutinizing hers, she saw how his lips would frown in disgust, she saw how tanned his skin truly was, she just… imagined how he would look like ten years older. But it was just a mental image.

Bulma groaned. She had no intentions of letting her guard down. There was no plausible explanation as to why she'd ever want Vegeta to be by her side right now.

She was over him. He never deserved her love, much less attention in the first place. He was just a conceited asshole who cared nothing but for himself. God, she was just an idiot for admiring him in the first place. Bulma knew she plainly deserved better. She now doubted he would have even made her happy if they got into a relationship. She always told herself this and she always felt better about herself. She could hardly care less about what Vegeta thought about her anymore.

Bulma might have contemplated on the matter further (might have being the operative words; if she was really in the mood) if not for the not so subtle ringtone of her iPhone.

Bulma groaned, knowing it was probably her mother. Out of all the people who called on a regular basis besides her friends had to be her airhead of apparent. Bunny was not one of those people that you could brush off easily; she couldn't take much of a hint no matter what you tried. The point of all this was, she was the last person Bulma would talk to about her love life. Sometimes. Really: she didn't know anyone else who wanted grandchildren and a handsome son in law more than her. It was because of that mentality that Bulma never called her often. Not that she didn't love her, but sometimes, Bulma wondered if she was high: what else could explain her constant cheerful behaviour toward everything? Then again, Bulma mused to herself, her cooking could not compare to anyone else's.

"Hello, Mom," Bulma answered coolly, as she sat down on one of her worn-out lawn chairs, of which she kept outside on the balcony for this specific star-gazing purpose.

"Sweetie, it's been a while!" There was no way in hell that her mom could be this happy all the time, but it was possible. Even when she saw those god awful Twilight films, Bunny's attitude toward life never changed. See, anyone could treat her like crap and she still wouldn't have her feelings harmed. Even if there were other men that more or less flirted with her, Bunny would never get mad, or even remotely annoyed.

"Yeah, it has."

"Now what has made you so sad, darling?" Bunny had a remarkable way of reading people's emotions, even if she was on the phone with someone. It wasn't like Bulma could lie to her own flesh and blood.

"I'm not sad or depressed Mom," Bulma sighed, with a hint of annoyance creeping in her voice. She was definitely not a cry baby in real life; she was a stronger person than what she was before ten years ago. Bulma was smart enough to stay away from any situations resulting in broken hearts. Even at work, Bulma was portrayed as a distant, yet confident young woman with plenty of sass to boot.

It was difficult living the life of a physicist: long, gruelling days of constant research (well, to be honest – it wasn't that bad; she loved her work), that sometimes left her pretty moody. And lonely sometimes: it wasn't as if she made a lot of friends at work. But the point was, Bulma was not broody or sad. At least, that was what she kept telling herself.

"Careful, sweetie. With an attitude like that, I won't be getting grandkids in the next couple years." And apparently her mother liked to remind her on a frequent basis that she was hellbent on having grandchildren; how the hell did she have to keep doing that in the real world?

Bulma rolled her eyes, though her ecstatic mother wasn't able to see it.

"That's a world problem, Mom." Sometimes sarcasm was the right way to go.

"But you know how I hate it when you're sad. Is it because of Vegetal, dear?"

In a moment of weakness, Bulma did reveal to her mom about her crush on Vegeta in the past. At the time, Bunny did all she could to help her heal her broken heart with pep talks, chocolate chip cookies and new clothes; they all worked, but sometimes Bulma wondered if it was even a good idea to reveal her secret in the first place. Then again though, she was an expert in the ways of love - it was her specialty. It was surprising how much knowledge she had about romance.

"I don't really care about him anymore, Mom." For the past few months after her rejection, she used to choke on her tears whenever Vegeta was mentioned. Not to mention how her heart would break all over again whenever she saw him in the hallways: nowadays, Bulma had toughened up: she just hated thinking about Vegeta. Whenever she thought about him, Bulma had to admit that she'd like to toss him into a wood chipper if she had the chance.

"If you say so."

"Was there anything you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Your father wanted me to remind you that Capsule Corp is hosting this year's Summer Solstice – isn't that exciting?"

As much as Bulma loved parties, she knew she was not up to entertaining her father's co-workers and employees - which was the reason why she'd be dressed up like one of those porcelain dolls. Honestly, Bulma thought the party - which they always held for potential business partners – was an excuse to find Bulma a more suitable boyfriend; God knew how her dad did not really like Yamcha, but that wasn't so much a fact as it was a paranoid thought. But the food was outstanding and the dancing was always fun, so why not go? Bulma could drink as much as she wanted without any negative repercussions, she could soak up all the compliments she'd receive on anything she'd wear, and the fireworks? Hell, the fireworks were pretty much the best part of the party, to be honest. So all in all, she had mixed feelings about attending.

"I guess."

"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Bulma?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Little did Bulma know though, that was the question she'd be asking herself nonstop by the end of the night.

"Your father and I get worried about you sometimes." She didn't know why they bothered; it wasn't like she got herself into life threatening situations. Ok, she was being a bit of a smartass, but who wasn't a smartass these days? As much as Bulma appreciated her parents looking out for her, they didn't have to worry about her.

Well, that was complete bullshit: they did have to worry about her.

After all, she kind of went through a drinking phase a few years previous….and needless to say, smoking was becoming more than just a habit. But just thinking about the past – which held a lot more than petty drinking and a grudge against the guy who broke her heart – sounded unappealing. She would rather forget it all, that is, if she had the chance to erase her memories. But she had been fortunate enough to have Yamcha supporting her: who never once judged her for her past mistakes. And rhetorically speaking, who never made mistakes in their youth?

"You don't need to worry about me. I'm fine. I just… I just want to get the reunion over and done with." It wasn't a lie if she was already contemplating on how to deal with it earlier, right? But at least Bulma knew what her plans were after the reunion. First, she'd be heading straight to the spa – any stress that she'd build up during the week would most likely needed to be taken care of. Second, Bulma would make Yamcha sit through the entire Star Wars series for a marathon (no joke – it had been a long, long time since she had seen all six movies). Third, alcohol: lots and lots of alcohol. No explanations there.

"Why? Aren't you happy to be seeing your friends after all these years?"

What kind of world was she even living in? "Of course I am. But it's just… I haven't seen a lot of people and I wonder how they're going to turn out like. And some of them were just plain bitches."

"Now, now, I hope you're not talking about Vegeta now."

"Why would you say that?"

"All I'm saying is that maybe he's changed."

Oh yeah that would be the day. Could Bulma imagine that the guy who was practically known as the king of assholes in school had become a friendly, born-again Christian with preppy clothes and a promise ring? Ha. If that happened, that would be the day that Justin Bieber would stop making music forever. Either that, or the day she'd break up with Yamcha.

If Vegeta had changed for the better, it wasn't like she would ditch her loving boyfriend of ten or so years. If anything, it would be her turn to act like the bitch that most girls at school referred her as. Childish as the plan may be, but it might be worth it to see the look on his face. But then again, there was no guarantee that Vegeta would change to be a nicer, sweeter person.

If he was nice though, maybe she'd reconsider throwing him in a wood chipper. She supposed she could expose him to the game The Evil Within instead. Now mind you, THAT was a scary ass-fucking game that Yamcha forced her to watch him play. That was probably the biggest regret in her life, apart from Vegeta coldheartedly turning her down of course.


End file.
